# NFL on TV -- Which network gets which interconference games? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 16, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723 "2009-11-16T02:09:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/41 "2009-11-23T00:08:07Z")
If the limit is 75 miles then I don’t know why we are in that limit. I wonder how they define where a TV station reaches as well. So far it’s a moot point because I don’t think any Panthers games have been blacked out. BTW club seats do not have to be sold to lift a blackout only the normally priced seats. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/42 "2009-11-23T00:10:18Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > What? I mean that I don’t think any Fox affiliate takes hits or gets perks based on their local team’s games. The NFL tv contracts aren’t with affiliates, they’re with the network as a whole. Meaning that a blacked out game (or a highly rated game) won’t hit a particular affiliate’s bottom line. Even if it did, how is 6 blacked out games instead of 8 going to help in the long run? It’s essentially the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/43 "2009-11-23T00:15:21Z")
Instead of speculating back and forth, let’s limit further debate on this to cites. They’re tough to find, but I did find a clue [here](http://www.mydesert.com/article/20091122/SPORTS/911220305/1026/news12): > [@](#): > > “Otherwise, the local affiliates/networks work together to select which games are shown in each market,” Masonson said. > > Of course, we receive two other NFL games besides the Chargers every Sunday, and that’s where CBS and FOX enter the equation. > > Network officials make game assignments for each affiliate 12 days prior to a Sunday. > > “Local stations can request certain games, but FOX and the NFL have the final decision,” said Ken Spaulding, program director at KDFX. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/44 "2009-11-23T00:24:16Z")
Wikipedia has this to say: [Sunday regional coverage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL_on_television#Sunday_regional_games) > [@](#): > > The current package allows both CBS and Fox access to every stadium/market in the league for at least two games per season (unless an interconference game is chosen as a primetime national game). In 2003, both Miami’s home games against NFC teams were televised in primetime, a rare exception which prevented Fox from airing a game from Pro Player Stadium that season. As an example, the current setup allows CBS access to the Chicago market, which it wouldn’t otherwise have if all NFC games were on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/45 "2009-11-23T01:03:18Z")
“6 blacked out game instead of 8” is in fact 25% less blacked out games. I am pretty sure local affiliates sell ad time and do some of their own promos during NFL games. “Allows access” is not necessarily a perk. Suppose you give CBS the choice of showing a a random game between the Bears and the Dolphins. One game in Chicago, one game in Miami. IMO, CBS would rather air the game in Miami than the one in Chicago, especially if the game in Chicago has a chance of being blacked out. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/46 "2009-11-23T01:23:32Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I am pretty sure local affiliates sell ad time and do some of their own promos during NFL games. They do; it’s just like any other network programming that they carry. They can sell that ad space, run promos for local programming during it, etc. > [@notfrommensa](#): > > “Allows access” is not necessarily a perk. Suppose you give CBS the choice of showing a a random game between the Bears and the Dolphins. One game in Chicago, one game in Miami. IMO, CBS would rather air the game in Miami than the one in Chicago, especially if the game in Chicago has a chance of being blacked out. Might not be a great example. Chicago is the third-largest media market, while Miami is #12 (according to this list: [http://www.arbitron.com/home/mm001050.asp](http://www.arbitron.com/home/mm001050.asp) ; it’s radio markets, but it’s probably pretty close to the TV markets). In addition, I don’t think that a Bears game has been blacked out in the 20 years that I’ve lived here in Chicago, and the Bears have always had a strong fan base here (which leads to good TV ratings, even if the team isn’t playing well). Now, if it was a choice between, say, Miami and Detroit… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/47 "2009-11-23T02:29:28Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > “6 blacked out game instead of 8” is in fact 25% less blacked out games. We’re clearly at a logic impasse, neither of us buying into the other’s idea in the slightest. That’s why I said we should stick to cites. I’ll admit that wikipedia isn’t the greatest cite in the owrld, but you have yet to offer anything. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2009, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723/48 "2009-11-26T16:02:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Which network gets which interconference games? It might all come down to Thanksgiving Day. Dallas and Detroit are the host cities every year. Since they are both in the NFC, CBS would never get a game if Fox carried all the games in NFC stadiums. I really have no idea why that occurred to me today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-on-tv-which-network-gets-which-interconference-games/517723.md?page=2)